Last Updated on June 24, 2019 by PowersToTravel
I also entitled this day in my itinerary “The Multi-Transport Day.” This would be our most ambitious day in Bangkok. Yesterday was spent entirely in Rattanakosin, but today we would venture out to the “modern” world for some geographically separate adventures. I had specifically chosen Sunday for the adventure so that we could experience the metro and the city streets without being completely crushed.
I had downloaded about ten different bus line schedules, several metro maps, the river commuter boat maps, canal commuter boats maps, and Google neighborhood maps. Our itinerary included ten temples, museums, markets, skyscrapers, and malls. I even created a spreadsheet with approximate visit times and transfer times to see if it was even possible to accomplish the day.
Real-Feel 107 degrees Fahrenheit
However, nature just can’t be scheduled. The weather forecast announced “97 degrees, with a Real-feel of 107 degrees.”
I told Greg, “Well, we’ll start on our way, and eliminate items as we go, if we get too hot or tired.”
Transport One: Tuk-Tuk to Wat Benchamabophit
We flagged down a tuk-tuk up at the corner of our alley, to take us to Wat Benchamabophit. Imagine if you will how easy that was. It wasn’t as easy as saying “Grand Palace, please.”
“Wat Benchamaaaaabooooophhhhhhhhit”.
“Where?”
“Wat Benchaaaaaaaaaammmmmboooophit”.
“Where?”
Finally I produced a card which I had had the hotel reception create, which had the temple name written in Thai.
“Ah! Wat Benchaaaaaaaammmmmaaboooohit”.
Right.
Tuk-tuk in Bangkok
So, we headed off in our tuk-tuk, and we knew it would be quite a long ride. Earlier at home I had studied all the bus routes to get there, but now knowing the expected heat, and wanting to see as much as possible, I had quickly figured the relaxation of a tuk-tuk would be the best option. After only a twelve minute drive we had arrived! So glad I was we hadn’t tried to take the bus.
However, shortly I made my one of two mistakes in Bangkok.
“Wait for you?”
I wasn’t accustomed to having drivers just wait while we went sightseeing, and it appeared that there were tuk-tuks everywhere, and we were only a fifteen minute walk to the next item on our list. In any case, in a foolish moment of frugality we answered, “No.”
Wat Benchamabophit is a beautiful, graceful white marble temple, certainly worth the ride.
Wat Benchamabophit
Wat Benchamabophit
Canal at Wat Benchamabophit
Wat Benchamabophit drum
We wandered around, taking pictures of the temple, the canal with its graceful bridges, a huge drum. It began to get very hot and sticky, so we headed back to the entrance where we had seen many tuk-tuks earlier.
“Oh, I am waiting for someone.”
“I am waiting for someone.”
“I am waiting for someone.”
We finally got the message that there were no tuk-tuks available, so we headed up to the main road – just a very short walk – and tried to flag one. That didn’t work either. No one would stop. We stood there sweltering in the morning sun, and contemplated walking to the next stop, the Democracy Monument, however just couldn’t bring ourselves to walk in the heat, thinking that in just one moment a tuk-tuk would arrive.
Finally a tuk-tuk came in and deposited a person. We tried to capture that tuk-tuk driver, but he said that he too would be waiting. But, he had a friend who was a taxi-driver…
He called the friend who called a friend and finally a taxi-driver arrived. We started to get in, and told him we wanted the “Jim Thompson House”, having already decided to cut extraneous items off the itinerary. But the driver insisted he take us to a shop first. Oh, I had read about that… they basically hijack you, and take you to suspicious stores where you are intimidated into buying. Greg grabbed me out of the seat and we fled the taxi.
We struggled there in the heat for a total of forty-five minutes, trying to move to our next destination. For the life of me, I can’t remember how we got to the Jim Thompson House – I’ll have to ask Greg when he returns home today. Oh – he says it was in a tuk-tuk.
So, look how quickly we lost the Democracy Monument (a monument just to look at in a roundabout), Loha Prasat (a temple, but we’d just seen a lovely temple), Fort Mahakan (little fort just to walk by, no going into), Wat Saket (a temple at the top of a high hill, not about to climb up stairs in this heat), and the Khlong Saen Seap Ferry (supposedly a unique experience on the canals which I am so sorry to have missed)!
And what is the Jim Thompson House? It is a museum consisting of several traditional houses, with most importantly, a restaurant! The tourist guides say that it is a must-do, a top-tier item, so that’s what I skipped to. I didn’t know what to expect, except that it was a museum and had food and air-conditioning.
Transport Two: Tuk-Tuk to Jim Thompson House (should have been a fast canal ferry!)
At the Jim Thompson House it was necessary to take a guided tour through the quiet, leafy, cool, compound. We learned the story of Jim Thompson, an American military adviser who worked with the pro-allied Thai forces in World War II. He fell in love with Thailand, and settled in Bangkok. He had a love of Thai handicrafts and architecture, and singlehandedly created the Thai silk industry. He relocated several beautiful Thai homes to this location in a parkland in Bangkok, pieced them together into a large home where he then lived. He disappeared in 1967 in the Malaysian Highlands under very mysterious circumstances. The house is now a museum.
Jim Thompson House
After a nice visit we concluded with lunch at the museum restaurant. Once again I chose pad thai, still questing for the lovely flavor from Siam Square. The food was good, but not quite good enough for me.
Transport Three: Golf Cart to the Metro
The Jim Thompson House offered a free shuttle service in a golf cart to the local metro, so we took it.
Transport Four: Skytrain to Chatuchak Weekend Market
We took the Skytrain (metro) north to the Mo Chit stop, and the Chatuchak Weekend Market.
We found the Skytrain to be very modern, clean, and because it was a Sunday, relaxing, since we found seats.
Skytrain in Bangkok
Skytrain in Bangkok
I was armed with maps for other items in our itinerary, but not for Mo Chit. I had read that the market was right next to the Skytrain station and indeed we easily found the entrance to the market. The market was sprawling and crowded. Major arteries in the market were uncovered, in the sun, and the cross-paths were under the cover of awnings, tents and buildings. So, we proceeded along the minor cross-paths, Greg leading the way, and me in tow.
Chatuchak Market
Chatuchak Market
This was no tourist market – this was a major Asian event – millions of stands selling sneakers, t-shirts, cosmetic products, luggage – everything we did not want to buy. At the time I was amazed but also thought, “I’m easily amazed since this is my first visit to Southeast Asia.” Since then I’ve learned that Chatuchak Market advertises itself as the World’s Largest Weekend Market.” Check here. It was entertaining, but after about an hour we said, “Let’s find the exit.”
Now we arrive at my second faux-pas of the Bangkok tour. I hadn’t been studying where we were going, knowing Greg always knows where he is. Greg was certain he knew where the exit was, and truly did find the exit. He thought it was just down the road from our original entrance and we walked authoritatively in that direction, but it became clear that we weren’t finding that entrance. We stopped some Americans, looking for the Skytrain. “Oh – it’s just around the corner there.” So around the corner we went, and knew we weren’t in the right place. The temperature was at least 97 in high humidity and we just couldn’t find the Skytrain, neither could I find us on my maps because I didn’t bring any!
As I looked up, I could see the Skytrain tracks in the distance. Why is it going that direction? Why is there no entrance?
Transport Five: Unexpectedly the Subway
Turns out that the Americans had directed us to the Subway station, not the Skytrain station. Finally we stumbled down the escalator to the Subway. The Subway??? Is that different from the Skytrain??? Well naturally, the subway is subterranean, and the Skyway is in the sky!
We found maps on the walls and discovered that in this neighborhood the subway and the metro don’t quite meet, but almost. We took the subway one stop to arrive at Mo Chit, but then found that we had to leave the subway station, go above ground and once again struggle to orient ourselves. This time Greg’s radar worked well, and we finally stumbled up the stairs to the Skytrain. We collapsed on the next train.
Transport Six: The Skytrain again, and for good
We were supposed to exit the train near the downtown area and see Suan Pakkad Palace Museum, the Baiyoke Sky Tower and one of the many malls. As we approached the stops, we just looked at each other and said, “No. Let’s just head home.”
Siam Paragon Mall – We gave it a miss
Transport Seven: Our familiar Orange Flag boat
We took the train to its very end, where it ends at the Chao Phraya River, and headed for our familiar Orange Flag boat. Oh, how much cooler it was on the river. It seemed so wonderful to be back on the river, watching the crazy boats going this way and that. We alighted at Wat Arun, then took our little cross river ferry back to Tha Tien, and walked our 3 blocks to our hotel.
We heard the rumble of thunderstorms and were so very glad to have cut our day short to luxuriate in our Wat Pho Deluxe room, instead of walking a mall for products we wouldn’t have been able to carry anyway, and could probably have bought at home.
Related Links
Learn about the life and mystery of Jim Thompson
Here’s the link, once again, for Chatuchak Market.
Check out this article of mine too:
Thailand Travel Blog – Itinerary, Impressions and Diabetic Travel Tips
Such an exciting city with so much to see – an amazing temple, a complex in honor of Jim Thompson, then the market of such magnitude that you lost your way. All this to encompass as strangers in the land. Wish you had stuck with the “tuk tuk”. You are certainly adventurous. Thanks for the great photos which capture the scene.